'Quartyard': Grad students' rad idea for vacant lots

Architecture school grads turning thesis into metal and glass -- and a dog park

The graduates of the NewSchool of Architecture and Design picked up their master's degrees in June, formed RAD Lab -- standing for research architecture development laboratory -- and set about turning a downtown vacant lot into a temporary public park they call "Quartyard."

By late spring they hope to open a beer garden, dog run, coffee shop and sausage eatery at Market Street and Park Boulevard. There will be space for night markets, concerts, food trucks, neighborhood fairs, education events and private parties.

"It began as a thesis project and eventually grew into something much bigger," said Philip Auchettl, 28, from Melbourne, Australia, the RAD Lab CEO. His background is creating, curating and managing art exhibitions.

Incorporating 14 surplus shipping containers, Quartyard will occupy a 28,500-square-foot dirt lot that Civic San Diego, the city's urban development arm, plans to eventually sell to a high-rise housing developer.

The remainder of the city-owned site is occupied by a historic house and a paid parking lot. The ex-students would lease the property for $1 per year for three years and share any profits with the city and their financial backer.

Architecture students typically use their senior or master's theses as a way to hone their design skills. The financial and political feasibility is typically not taken into account. But the RAD lads chose a different route.

A rendering shows the range of activities that would take place inside the shipping containers and in the open space around them.
— RAD Lab

A rendering shows the range of activities that would take place inside the shipping containers and in the open space around them.
/ RAD Lab

"The focus we all came back to was we work on designing things, but you can learn so much more from actually doing," said David Loewenstein, 28, chief operating officer who previously earned a criminal justice degree at the University of Arizona. "So as we came together as a group, we decided early on that no matter what we ended up designing, it had to be something that could actually be built."

The other two partners are Jason Grauten, 26, who also attended the University of Arizona, where he earned a bachelor's in urban planning and business, and Adam Jubela, 36, chief financial officer, who earned his UofA degree in entrepreneurship and finance. Jubela was not part of the thesis team but provided financial input and joined later.

A fifth NewSchool alum, Michael Pogue, 26, did serve on the thesis team but has since found a full-time job and is aiding RAD Lab informally. The four founders operate out of an office at NewSchool a couple of blocks away and earn income in web and architectural design work while seeking city approval.

Ironically, one of the team's biggest boosters was former Mayor Bob Filner.

Grad students from New School of Architecture and Design are hoping to turn a downtown vacant lot into a temporary public park they call "Quartyard."
— Nelvin C. Cepeda

Grad students from New School of Architecture and Design are hoping to turn a downtown vacant lot into a temporary public park they call "Quartyard."
— Nelvin C. Cepeda

"He opened doors for us," Auchettl said, before resigning in disgrace Aug. 30.

But that didn't halt the group's momentum. They raised more than $60,000 from nearly 300 donors in a 30-day Kickstarter fund-raising campaign. Recently, they announced the Canter Companies, a real estate firm, as their major investor for about $300,000. The ex-students also invested $10,000 of their own funds to cover various city development fees.

"I think the whole concept of urban infill is something our company believes in a lot," said Andrew Canter, CEO and principal. "Being able to take a piece of unattractive land and make something useful the community would really enjoy was something appealing."

Canter said the students' enthusiasm and passion played a big part in his decision to back Quartyard financially. He also reserves the right to invest in any followup venture.

"That makes our decision a little easier," he said. "Obviously when someone is that dedicated to that concept, it helps mitigate our risk a little bit."

The team has lined up three tenants -- Best Beverage Catering, which will operate a beer garden; 50/50 burger restaurateur Scott Slater who plans a gourmet sausage eatery; and John Bertsch, who operates the Meshuggah Shack mini-coffee shop in Hillcrest. They will own and pay for the conversion of their containers into usable spaces at a cost roughly estimated at $100,000 altogether.

There is space for five to eight food trucks and retailers who could sell their wares at a night market and local farmers who might set up a farmer's market during the day. Local artists, musicians and other performers would fill out a monthly calendar and make Quartyard a new in-place for downtown's burgeoning East Village neighborhood.

"We're in San Diego where the weather is beautiful 95 percent of the year," Loewenstein said, so developing an outdoor venue seemed an obvious winner.

The project's final steps include a presentation before the Downtown Community Planning Council and a Civic San Diego hearing officer. If there are no hiccups, the city will issue grading permits next month so site work can begin. The shipping containers, bought for $3,000-$5,000 each, will be sent to manufacturers for refurbishing and returned to the project site six weeks later.

RAD Lab's pro forma envisions turning a profit in the third year and sharing the proceeds with Canter and the city. Once Civic San Diego's housing developer takes over the site, RAD Lab would pack up and move to a new site.

"We think this can act as a model not just for places across San Diego and California potentially but also across the whole United States," Auchettl said.

One of the students' mentors, former city architect Mike Stepner, now a NewSchool professor, said he couldn't remember a group of graduate students who turned their thesis into a real live project.

"It's just a fantastic model," he said. "There are more things architects can do than just draw blueprints, and we should encourage students to do that."

The Quarteryard site is currently mostly vacant. The historic house in the distance and the parking lot would remain until the full block is redeveloped with high-rise housing.
— RAD Lab

The Quarteryard site is currently mostly vacant. The historic house in the distance and the parking lot would remain until the full block is redeveloped with high-rise housing.
/ RAD Lab